Are there any changes planned for air sim QOL?

Hi, plane enthusiast and WT air sim lover here, for me War Thunder sim strikes the perfect balance of simulation and accessibility and is thus my favorite game of the genre.
I do however have a few issues when it comes to controls or just general gameplay.
Are there any plans to have more in depth controls to bind to HOTAS and the likes, I’m thinking for instance streamlined radar mode selections (each mode assigned to one button each) or the possibility to make split throttles work?
The option to have cockpit graphics settings set apart from the rest of the environnement would also be highly appreciated.

I hope some other related QOL suggestions will be added to this topic.
I wish everyone taking the time to read this a nice day.

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I really just want that long lamented issues get addressed and fixed, most which are especially aggravating in Sim:

  • Not working Flight Path Marker and horizon line in HUDs *
  • Missing symbology (e.g. for locked radar contacts) in HUD *
  • Missing symbology/display of selected bases/ground targets *
  • Missing possibility to easily select mission targets (or at least display of selected targets) *
  • Missing possibility to freely configure ripple mode, quantity and intervals

(the ones I marked with * are mostly exclusive to Sim, as in other game modes these are handled in another way and actually implemented if not in a realistic way, at least in a functional way…)

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Plus working RWR on instruments.

In VR you don’t see the RWR circle when looking forward, so you miss a lot of pings, as they disappear faster than you can turn your head.

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in VR there is also an issue with HMS showing up at weird angles too, quite a bit annoying, I made a post about it on the bug reports forum, let’s hope that goes through.

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That would be great indeed, I’m also a bit annoyed by the fact that ripple drops don’t work anymore when you have a bomb selected.
Thanks for your additions!

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VR is even more niche than SIM…
Considering how “much” attention SIM gets, I don’t have much hope… 😄

As a fellow Air SB enjoyer; I would like to second and third all of the proposed QoL improvements and implementations.

Also throwing out these ideas/additions.

Radar stations that reveal enemy positions once every 5-10 minutes. These are able to be destroyed and thus denying the enemy for that benefit for the same duration. These could also work in conjunction with SCUD/ICBM launchers. Similarly laid out as outposts. Moderate protection via improved radar based SPAA.

An option in the radio dial to request a bogey dope; a request on the nearest enemy aircraft. This could be something granted by the above proposal.

An option in the radio dial to request a refueling, where a tanker will appear on your side of the map for a limited amount of time that you will have to fly to and stay near (similarly to base captures in ground battles) to get either a full amount of fuel or 25-50% of your capacity.

More targets to go after for ground pounders. Train stations, factories in maps with cities, more frontline trenches, artillery positions, etc.

A drop down menu similar to the livery/user skin at the beginning/spawning of your aircraft that has a list of call-signs the game and radio options can use. Such as Anvil 1-1, Anvil 1-2, 1-3, Talon 1-1, 1-2, etc. This would be used in conjunction with the bogey dope and other radio comms.

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Or just Trains driving on tracks would be nice to have for strafing or bombing. It would also be cool to be given bridges as targets, I think you can destroy some now but I’m not sure you get any points for it - but it would be great if there were a targed bridge or two where destroying it would affect one of the mid game ground battles and/or disrupt the convoys we’re supposed to take out.

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Morvran’s post elsewhere reminds me:

It’d be swell if we could get partial score for partial damage of boats and carriers.

Depending on your plane and target, you might need multiple runs to sink a boat and that will be multiple useful action cycles. This means until you sink it, you get no reward despite culling their crew by some 40% each run.

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I would really like to see it easier to get into a match. Wanting to play X br and waiting for 20 min for the room to get closed because no one else wants to play the br or the map that generated. Give us bots to fill the room so we can play, if people join the bots are removed. Sim can get so annoying just waiting over an hour to just play a br you want.

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They already have this feature in their “event” rooms or whatever they are…

Along with this I’d like fully customizable teams (i.e. all the way from all v all to single nations on each team).

But I want these games to count for using wagers which the pre-made ones do not.

and bring back “Clear” weather as an option

how do you find these rooms? i waited almost an hour just to play 6.3

One QoL I’d like to see:

For planes with airspawns, make it a button to actually airspawn.

I like to take a break when RTB for water and stuff, and getting flung back into the air is… annoying to say the least

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I use the “Room List” button. By default it only shows rooms that are available but you can unhide it (but there’s no point, you can’t join those rooms anyway).

If you can’t find one, you can create one. Be prepared to wait and be frustrated by people joining and leaving right away (where if they just stayed for a few minutes the game would start but because they leave you’ll see plenty come and go before the room starts).

There are no air spawns in simulator mode unless you land on the carrier with a non-navy airplane. (Pro tip: do that when available as it is the quickest way back to the battle)

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What about float planes, wouldn’t those get an airspawn too? And some bombers might get one too since they can’t take off from the short airfields.

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@PCPaulDPearl
I’ve constantly got airspawns with my PBM.

I only landed her on the concrete runway on Tunisia and after rearming, I got respawned like 150 metres above the runway. Since I wasn’t expecting that, I also almost slammed head first into the ground. On khalkin gol, I had the same experience.

It was incredibly annoying as I said I tend to use my land & rearm as an opportunity to stretch my legs and all that - especially with bulky and unwieldy planes like the PBM that need 30 minutes to reach the enemy side and return.

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oh… I forgot about float planes… those too get air spawns too for obvious reasons… I don’t believe I’ve ever tried using one with gear in SB… do those also spawn in the air?

If you can land without taking damage you can leave your aircraft without taking the death but I’m not sure that’s possible - that may be worth a try. There are some maps you can land in the water close enough to get repaired so that’s an option too

Is gaijin going the remember they have a player/customer base in Air Sim? Or are they waiting for a rival game to erupt or players to protest in some way? @Smin1080p_WT @Stona_WT

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We will get RWR cockpit elements updated in Firebirds, something that benefits mostly Sim players, and may be just a novelty feature for the major player base that flies in HUD view or external view, so there’s hoping…

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It’s a good change but Sim needs big improvements as you also know. We are playing in the same basis that was designed for props in 4/4.5 gen jets and last small touch was done like two years ago in terms of gameplay, not to say there are still ridiculous bugs like attackers/bombers orbiting at D4 in Tunisia and flying around G4 in Denmark, crashing into mountains in Afghanistan and many more ridiculous stuff that you might also know. Air Sim needs a complete overhaul by December update at the latest and also a dedicated development team even if it consist of few people. Actually most necessary stuff can be done by 1 or 2 people working full time on the mode. When I heard Patriot assets were gonna be added to the game I got excited for Sim then it turned out they were gonna be stuff for Air RB that give 20 points each, functionally no different than howitzers and most people in Air RB don’t really care about unless they are very close to them at the end ot the match and they want few more points before the ticket bleeds. I felt so trolled by this.

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